TOTAL N-CHANNEL CONTROL IN THE WEAK FIELD DOMAIN

The existence of a complete solution to the problem of controlling molecular photodissociation using weak laser fields is explored from the perspective of the theory of coherent radiative control. Specifically, the usual two-path coherent radiative control theory is extended to the N-path case and the magnitudes and phases of a series of light frequencies which generate a particular distribution of product photofragments are obtained. Results show that complete control over the distribution of product yields is possible if (a) the continuum absorption spectrum is composed of a series of sufficiently narrow resonances, and (b) that the photodissociation process is nonfactorizeable, i.e., it cannot be broken up to the excitation of a "bright" state and dissociation to a set of "dark" states.